Tuesday, September 27, 2016

From Special Agent to Trial Consultant

Michael Weatherly may have said goodbye to his role as Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo on NCIS, but his new role does not take him far from the twists and turns of the justice system. After playing the role of a senior field agent in 13 seasons of NCIS, Michael Weatherly is taking the lead in the brand new show BULL.

“I’m gonna miss his repressive sense of humor, what I won’t miss is wearing that gun, that was uncomfortable,” Weatherly said about his NCIS character during an interview.

BULL takes inspiration from the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, co-founder of top trial consulting firm Courtroom Sciences, Inc. (CSI), which has provided trial consulting services for Fortune 500 companies as well as talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

“It’s been amazing to play a character who is all about human connection, he’s about finding out why we do the things we do, but he’s also about getting to the truth of something,” Weatherly said in another interview.

Courtroom Drama

In this new series, Weatherly shifts from law enforcement to trial analytics. His character, trial consultant Dr. Jason Bull, does everything to get the justice his clients deserve.

“What’s fascinating about the whole world of trial analytics and the sciences of it is that they’re looking at things that you don’t think about,” Weatherly said.

“He (Dr. Bull) looks at a jury trial and looks at the identities of everybody involved from the judge to the attorneys, to the jury, and the witness and defendant, and he figures out what everyone’s thinking,” he added.

The doctor is perfectly aware that the 12 ordinary people making up a jury have the power to decide a person’s fate at court. He also knows that these jurors possess a preconceived notion of the truth. That’s why the key to winning a trial is by winning over the jury.

Behind the scenes

Dr. Bull further understands that even the tiniest details such as relationship status, clothes, and hairstyle can turn the court against the defendant. To avoid an unfavorable outcome, he works with a team of experts to make sure that his clients are on their best behavior and will say the right things at the witness stand.

His staff includes a lawyer who acts as defense attorney in mock trials, a neurolinguistics expert who used to be a part of the Department of Homeland Security, a former detective from the New York Police Department, a haughty millennial hacker, and a fashion stylist.

“What this show really looks at are the choices that we make, and who we think we are versus how other people think we are, and it starts to get to a hall of mirrors. It takes very complex people to figure out complex people,” Weatherly said.